Smokehammer wrote:Im pretty sure the other goon is Kalinin and I wouldnt put it past him to purposefully screw up his drow to come off like one of those MLG geeks for shits & giggles.

I cant wait for the wicked interplay that should come up between him and Kalki regardless. If blood loss doesnt get Snad the puns, insanity and plane full of vodka surely will.

Kalki... and vodka. Just... wow. You've got me imagining Kalki as Demoman now. And Kalinin as Heavy. We'll also get Old Man Henderson as Soldier, Azula as Pyro, Benny the 1980's something Space Man as Engineer, Downfall Parody!Fegelein as Scout, Doctor Emily Gray (Red vs. Blue) as Medic, Austin Powers as Spy, and Garrus Vakarian as Sniper. It will be called "Loon Fortress 2". And it will be awesome.

Smokehammer wrote:Im pretty sure the other goon is Kalinin and I wouldnt put it past him to purposefully screw up his drow to come off like one of those MLG geeks for shits & giggles.

I cant wait for the wicked interplay that should come up between him and Kalki regardless. If blood loss doesnt get Snad the puns, insanity and plane full of vodka surely will.

Kalki... and vodka. Just... wow. You've got me imagining Kalki as Demoman now. And Kalinin as Heavy. We'll also get Old Man Henderson as Soldier, Azula as Pyro, Benny the 1980's something Space Man as Engineer, Downfall Parody!Fegelein as Scout, Doctor Emily Gray (Red vs. Blue) as Medic, Austin Powers as Spy, and Garrus Vakarian as Sniper. It will be called "Loon Fortress 2". And it will be awesome.

Sounds positively cracktastic!

Smokehammer wrote:Im pretty sure the other goon is Kalinin and I wouldnt put it past him to purposefully screw up his drow to come off like one of those MLG geeks for shits & giggles.

Oh GOD! Please tell me this hasn't been abandoned. I love this since I can't get the Earth Age story that I wanted what with all the sabotaging that was going on at the time. And I was there, you have no idea how much frustration it was to try and steer the story with 500 others trying to cause a 50 car pileup with it.

The tide of war was unpredictable. She had been told many times of this fact. However, it was the very first time she had witnessed such a rapid change in such a short span. Ariel Val'Sarghress, the War Princess, the Wolf's Daughter, clenched her teeth as she kept her head low, doing like many of her followers for the alternative was far less palatable. The formidable weapons of the surfacers could penetrate armor and the wounds they caused were beyond any comprehension. How was this even possible? Quain's protégée clenched her fist in the mud, her long white and violet hair muddy and frazzled, while splotches of dirt and blood from the battlefield and allies alike stained her armor. She blinked with a tired gaze. There was simply no time for lamentations.

The weapons of the surfacers were still making an awful racket, eating bits out of the rocks they were using as cover. A chuckle made her turn her gaze and frown, searching for the fool who dared to make such an expression in this hellhole. Sar'nel, one of her most trusted comrades and battle brothers was there, clutching his side as a vivid red stain marred the left of his beastplate. His equally dirty face was sporting a mix of emotions which included pain, resignation and a cynical smile. Besides him, the panicking figure of Faen was fumbling around with bandages, trying in vain to close the wound and give him the much needed time he deserved.

"No doubt about it. It's like in the stories of Grandfather. Muskets..." Sar'nel chuckled, "...took me a while to recognize them. They must've upgraded them quite a lot. Now they can fire in bursts and with incredible accuracy."

"What!?" Ariel's jaw opened in disbelief. "What's that supposed to mean!?"

"Yes. It puzzles me as well." His second chuckle turning to a wince as Faen applied pressure to the wound. “Grandfather Rosof, in the diary he wrote before his last expedition went awry, said that the surfacers were getting really dangerous. Among other things, they had miniaturized the dwarven cannon design into a streamlined, long weapon which fired tiny lead beads. The principle is the same though. Seal explosives..." After coughing he continued. "...in a shaft, and let the so called bullet be propelled by the explosion. Crude, but it could pierce even carefully crafted armor."

Ariel clenched her teeth. "Tell me there's a way to counter such a thing."

He shook his head. "There WAS a way, since the weapon took a long time to reload back in the day. But I'm pretty sure they don't have such disadvantages now. Although... a mana shield can stop them. If you have enough training, that is." The young male wolf twisted his face, thinking that not even a third of the Sarghress army had such training.

"And that -is- the reason why you are failing." A haughty voice surprised the trio and Faen let out a small yelp upon seeing who had approached. The Sarghress regarded the newcomer; one of those damn dragonspawn puffed up with pride in full battle gear, her hair in a large braid cascading all the way to her waist. She continued her scolding, "Aw, aren't you the most pathetic little dirt-ridden and wounded puppies ever?"

"Vy'chriel Vel'Sharen." Ariel spat. "Why are you here?"

"It's Val'Sharen to you, mongrel." Vy'chriel snarled upon hearing the common insult that the Sarghress had coined for her ilk after the failed Nidraa'chal coup. "And I'm here doing some sightseeing. You know, crystals, rocks, dead drow...What the hel do you think I am here for !?"

Shots rang out, directed at the supposedly easy target of the boasting Sharen who was not caring to take cover. Mana hues invaded the Ariel's sight while Vy'chriel casually deployed a shield to fend off the gunfire of several sources.

"Okay, I must concede this is rather annoying." The proud dragon said, as she flicked her hair over her shoulder. And then, as if on a cue, a large surge of earth sorcery shaped a large rock wall, providing enough cover for everyone to stand on their feet. "Thanks, Yaeminira."

"Please don't make my job any harder, Vy." A second figure stepped out from behind the first, clad in the colors of Zala’ess' ilk, but her short, blackened hair denoted her status as a protector twin.

Several others ran up to the 5 combatants. Amongst them was Chrys'tel Val'Sharen who frowned at Faen's fumbling with Sar'nel's wounds. "Let me.”, she offered. The blood sorceress gently tapped the distressed Faen, who quickly scrambled out of the way, relieved to see a friendly face in all of the chaos. Sar'nel's also looked relieved as the Sharen’s blood arts did their diligent work in sealing and repairing the hemorrhage.

"Crybaby Faen. You never change." A voice beside Chrys'tel crudely remarked, as she tilted her head sideways, arms folded in front of her chestplate. The bobbed hair of Shinae shook ever so slightly, before she smiled somewhat. "Just like this guy over here." She said, pointing to the last figure. The fifth Sharen, who looked like a small sized version of Sabbror, snorted as he gingerly closed the distance between himself and the still prone Val’Sarghress heir. Reaching for her, he offered her a hand up.

"Please excuse my sisters' behavior. The trip has been... trying, for some." Nau'kheol said somberly, before Ariel swatted his hand away quickly before regaining her feet on her own steam.

"Anyway..." Vy'chriel coughed, slightly annoyed at the small chatter. "Gather up your puppies, Ariel." The dragonette announced. "It's time for a counterattack!"

"What, but the muskets..???" The wolf snarled while regarding Sar‘nel.

"I said. It's time for a COUNTER. ATTACK." Vy'chriel triumphantly yelled as she pulled out a large, suspicious mana-laden gem, and with a cocky smirk, brought life back into the soul of the creature that had been stored hence. A large dragon summon wrenched itself out of the rock matrix and stood there, towering, in front of the group. "And now, Yae, if you would? Flush these dirty monkeys from their cover!" The Sharen commanded to her twin.

As the wall before them collapsed shots rang once more, but this time they petered off harmlessly against the rockbound dragon. And then, with a deft move of Yae’s staff, the rocky mounds from where the surfacers in strange clothes were shooting shifted and changed into walls of spikes. Confusion set in at first, as they scrambled to find new cover, only to have rocks explode in their faces once more. The dragon summon advanced relentlessly, like a juggernaut, providing cover to those drow behind it. Sometimes, an explosive device or two made a dent on the dragon's rock hide, but it shifted and recovered its stony form rather instantly. However, more and more shots were beginning to zip around the shields of the group, as the enemy soldiers abandoned their forward attack for flanking maneuvers.

"Uh, I think I'm going to need help dealing with those." Vy'chriel spat through clenched teeth. The Sharen summoner wasn't expecting them to regain their wits so quickly. In response two of her companions took up odd battle cries.

"LEAVE ARIEL ALONE!" and "PISS OFF" were heard simultaneously from both Faen and Shinae. The first made the gunners wince and scatter their shots everywhere, unable to take aim as they came under the effects of crippling mental distress. And then Shinae's blow caught them flatfooted, pressure propelling them to the broken earth, knocking the unfortunate surfacers out cold.

"Or not. Good job, cat and Shinae!" Vy'chriel chuckled haughtily in a manner reminiscent of Zala‘ess. They were coming closer to the officer’s tent where her mother and that wolf, Mel'anarch, were supposed to be. They would be successful in their rescue! Vy’s exuberance was quickly interrupted however by a faint whimper from behind.

Faen stood clutching at her head muttering "No." and "It can't be." weakly. Ariel held her lover defensively as she continued, "Quain's aura... everyone is...is… gone."

"What?" Ariel blurted, before looking at the tent, and about to sprint but the hands of the empath clutched her armor.

At this point, everyone looked at the empath, their collective eyes narrowing. Faen flinched upon the unwanted attention, fidgeting. She didn't know how to explain. But their attention quickly focused elsewhere as the tent opened to reveal a lone figure. A regal, poised knightly figure. Standing in the door was one of the Sharen.

"Lord Sabbror?" Sar'nel announced, while clutching his now-tended but still tender wound.

"Dad?" Vy'chriel reaffirmed herself. "Are you alright?"

Sabbror nodded somberly, as he sighed and steadied himself. "Your mother wants you to stand down." He finally said, a grave tone in his voice. "It's alright, the situation is taken care of. Chrys'tel, could you please come here?"

Everyone looked at each other, frowning slightly, but they all did as commanded. The dragon crumbled into rocks. Earth & Pressure sorcery ceased. Nau'kheol sheathed his blade. All of them stopped. Save for one.

"HALESHIT!" Ariel said as she sprinted towards the tent, Faen’s warning making her paranoid of the Sharen’s motives. Sabbror tried to interpose himself to intercept the young woman, but a whip made of hair shoved him aside.

And then Ariel saw it. Her mother‘s lifeless form. Sprawled on a torn pile of rocks, a dagger embedded in one eye, the great woman no longer exuded the might and presence Ariel had so come to respect and cherish. Though confused and in shock she remembered herself regardless of the wrenching pain and took a quick sweep of the tent. There were four surfacers. Two armed with those deadly “muskets” as Sar’nel had called them, and two wounded though oddly still dangerous looking women. The burnt one seemed to be dressed in a manner which betrayed that she might be the leader of the unknown forces that had attacked them and the other, though literally armless still gave off a strange feeling of dread. Zala’ess and Mel’anarch seemed unharmed, in fact Zala’ess was chatting cordially with one of the attackers. A traitor. Everyone else was dead, sharing the same fate as Quain’tana. Everyone but…

Zala'ess you traitor.

Ariel wanted to scream in rage, but no words came from her mouth. Instead she felt the force of her body fading quickly as a sharp blow to the back of the head robbed her of consciousness.

"Sorry, kid." The voice of Sabbror was the last thing she heard, before she finally succumbed.

My question though is Sarv was officially "killed" by Kalinin, but here she has presumably matching(based on Ar's assumption) uniformed troops at her command. Was he just screwing with her or what? I suppose it will be explained later but its food for thought.

Smokehammer wrote:My question though is Sarv was officially "killed" by Kalinin, but here she has presumably matching(based on Ar's assumption) uniformed troops at her command. Was he just screwing with her or what? I suppose it will be explained later but its food for thought.

They were lent by Nova, the PMC who's in cahoots with Nadin. In other word, hired guns.

Well if I had to guess Gunny I'd say based off Sarv's ballistic knife trick, and the fact that they speak Russian they probably have standard Russian arms like Graches, AKMs, RPK/PKMs etc. Though as mercs its pretty much whatever they prefer and can afford (and given theyre Nadin/Nova backed) that's probably pretty much anything small arms wise -doesnt sound like they brought too much in the way of artillery with them, which when you think about it, makes perfect sense given this is an unofficial attack.

"Something about World Domination or Intercontinental Balistic Penguins."

SLMN has joined.AwesomeK has joined.FFashion has joined.S1r3n has joined.AxGirl has joined.RussianTroll has joined.HMan has joined.LiN has joined.

SLMN:Greetings.AwesomeK: Sup, old man.FFashion: Hi SLMN.RussianTroll:wave.gifs1r3n: Long time no see. How are you doing?SLMN: I'm fine, just left my grandchildren back with their parents. What about you?LiN: Bored. Really. Also Hi.HMan: Buried in paperwork.AxGirl: I'm still alive. Sort of.RussianTroll: Surrounded by vodka crates. I'm in heaven.AwesomeK: ...when you kiss me?RussianTroll:LOLRussianTroll:kissing_you_re_doing_it_wrong.gifS1r3n: I am going to deal with some troublesome guests shortly.FFashion:...cant type ewll, onyl one good arm.SLMN:Damn. Get better soon, Fashionista.FFashion:ill try and I suck long wienerk5rghAxGirl: Stop doing that, AwesomeK.AwesomeK: But it's so fun, she's powerless as a kitten!RussianTroll: Iapprove.gifHMan:Please don't tease the boss.S1r3n: Are you all together?LiN: Seems so.HMan: No. I'm not with them.RussianTroll: AK, FF, and AG are with me now. On the plane. WITH THE VODKA.RussianTroll:hellyeah.gifAwesomeK: And he's fondling my boobs.RussianTroll:yuck.gif.LiN:Could you please stop spamming images, RT?RussianTroll:NEVER.RussianTroll:dancingdalek.gifRussianTroll:thisisnotmyfinalform.gifRussianTroll:drunkbearontricicle.gifRussianTroll:bigbuttface.gifAwesomeK: ALL ABOARD THE GIF TRAIN!AwesomeK:racistmrpotato.gifAwesomeK:manboobs.gifAwesomeK:stevejobssupersaiyan.gifAwesomeK:falconpunchtoddler.gif

SLMN:Welcome back. Now, AxGirl, report if you would.AxGirl: Well, we picked up Fashionista. There were some issues. An entire gang went to sleep because of the fairies. And Fashionista's arm, well.. it's busted.SLMN: And the main objective?AxGirl: We retrieved the candy. We also made new friends.

WubDragon has joined.

WubDragon:...interesting contraption friends!WubDragon: I am pleased to inform you, that I, lady Zala'ess have jizzed my pants to meet you.AwesomeK: ROFL SLMN: Uh...LiN: Are you aware what "jizzed" means?RussianTroll: 42956t34trnewfS1r3n: What's going on there?SLMN: I'm also intrigued.AwesomeK:LOLOLOLOL SO FUNNY OMGFFashion: RT tricked WD into using that expression, and now WD's boyfriend is wringing russian by the neck, AG is separating them both.AwesomeK: And I'm taking pics!

WubDragon has left.

SLMN: Right.S1r3n: Idiots.LiN: Yeah.SLMN: Well, I suppose that is the cue for calling off the meeting. I'll see you all in person, FF, AG, RT and AK. I'm intrigued about our new friend. AwesomeK: WHATSLMN: You had better be ready. If Fashionista doesn't chew you down, I WILL.SLMN: Well then. Have a nice day. Or night.

S1r3n: ByeLiN: ByeFFashion:byeHMan: Goodbye

SLMN has left.HMan has left.LiN has left.S1r3n has left.FFashion has left.AwesomeK has left.AxGirl has left.RussianTroll has left.

Please keep going. This is my only hope of ever seeing earth age ever continue in any meaningful way. More so when the it pissed me off how much sabotage was rampant in the stories and nothing I tried actually could bring things to an epic tale like with space age, I really hope we see the clan with the martial arts that 2 here trying to escape from the black suns. That was them right? I keep forgetting how that group was doing.

Numbness. Comfortable numbness. Her brain registered the why, but not the how or when. All that she knew is that the rythmical beeping of a machine next to her was the only pointer. In her stupor, her neck stirred, as if weighted down by lead chains. The frontier between reality and dreams was blurred, as ghostly voices whispered in her ringing ears.

"Niko...is this the creature you told me about?"

"Indeed it is. I thought I needed someone else to verify it. I believe she is intelligent, but I cannot speak her language."

The ghostly images flickered and ebbed, their muffled words uninteligible, until they coalesced in a swirl of shadows and light. Shapes, contours became more defined, until a pair of strained eyes peeked into the room.

Four figures were staring at her. Two of them were human... two of them were not. Her sight then travelled upwards her right arm. It was not a stump, the arm was still there, covered in bandages. Medical care. Her gaze then turned to the other side, the monitoring machine keeping an steady beat. An IV drip kept pumping fluids in her remaining arm, the color of ash in her skin. A hospital room. She apparently had also reverted to her original appearance. Purple eyes peeked into the room, examining her visitors.

A sudden, elderly but firm and somber voice anunciated that her newfound consciousness had not gone unnoticed. On a chair, opposite her bed, there was a man. Ravaged and emaciated by age, his face and hands a knot of wrinkles and patched skin, with loose pure white hair combed in a simple hairstyle. However, the man was sharply dressed from head to toe in a business suit, and there was a regal nature in the piercing amber eyes that stared back.

"Awake at last, Snadhya'runes." The man added. "One has to admire the sturdiness of ...your folk." The man added as his hand brought forward a bundle. A bouquet of flowers, of all shapes, colors and sizes, which he somberly deposited in her lap.

"Aw, look at it, the old man cares about the old woman." A childish sneer came from a woman situated on the left of the man, sitting aswell. However, her sitting stance was less than adequate, for she was sitting on a haggard, nondescript man, with graying beard and stubble. The man was aswell holding the waist of the woman, preventing her eventuall fall from his lap. Unlike the man, the woman had the same ashen color as Snadhya'runes, as well as the telltale elongated ears of the drow. She recognized her face immediately. Kalki.

"Eh, they say love knows of no age." Kalinin conceded, his eerie and goofy grin managing to give a faint tinge of annoyance to Snadhya, despite her heavily sedated condition.

"Shush, the both of you." A gruff voice, on the leftmost side of the room exerted her authority. The all-familiar and cyclopean height of Snadhya's younger sister was patent, as her hair flowed wildly over her shoulders, having regained the lilac color it had once been known for, as well as the striking antennae-like cowlicks. Her appearance was a far shot from the slavic blonde that she had looked like before. Her eyes peeked at the elder man, who was showing a frown aswell.

"Solomon." Snadhya croaked, as she eyed the man.

"You've been hallucinating for a couple of days. I trust you are able to talk...about business now?" The man added, before producing a small folder. "The world does not wait...even for the supposedly immortal drow."

"Please make it brief." Snadhya'runes added, her left arm raising her hand to her forehead. "I have a big headache right now." The woman enounced.

"That should be the least of your worries, given how you nearly died out there. It was good luck...we had some of those blood...users? Are they called that? who promptly stabilized you. We could even reattach the arm with a good chance of success aswell."

"It was no luck." Sarv'swati broke her silence. "We had to bring an unknown with us." The woman added, her eyes looking at Solomon.

"Hm, yes, I am fully aware." Solomon added, without missing a beat. "Still, it was a good aid. Losing one of the heads of our joint business venture, alongside the plans for MARS and the Ouranos project would have been an irrecoverable blow." The old man added. "Höffmann has already located whoever made the mistake and has seen to his...dismissal."

"What kind of dismissal, old man?" Kalki brazenly butt in.

"The kind of dismissal that is not... discussed. And let me tell you, young lady, your impertinent behaviour ought to be corrected. I did not come all the way from Antwerp to be subject of this...charades of a raunchy ash-skinned meretrix who does not know when to listen." The eyes of Solomon cast his gaze into Kalki, as the drow woman clenched her fist.

"Oh, and what are you going to do...?" Kalki added, before a needle was presented millimeters away from her right eye, courtesy of her partner in crime.

"Hush. Or else. Nothing personal." Kalinin's curt response had an icy, detached quality, before resuming his grin. "Besides, you're way prettier when silent." He added, retracting the impromptu weapon.

"Really?"

"No."

After an awkward silence, Solomon took air, and continued his tirade. "I have had to carry you all over to this corner of Europe which appreciates privacy. Deploying your Soma devices and hiding all the traces of the shootout to disguise it as a security operation in a bank gone wrong was the trickiest part.I must convey my thanks to Höffmann for that. Suffice to say it was costly."

"I shall be more careful in the future." Snadhya'runes somberly replied.

"Good." Solomon sagely nodded. "May I suggest that you move only to your strongholds and places where you can be reasonably safe for the time being." THe old man added. "I shall do the same, for the time being. The world is erupting into chaos, and situations can change drastically. I shall keep the blueprints for the time being." Solomon added, his hand gesturing to Kalki.

"Give him the blueprints." Sarv'swati announced, her gaze piercing Kalki, who them fumbled in her clothes, and after some brazen digging in the chest area, produced a couple of data sticks, which Solomon aprehensively picked, before storing them into his pocket.

"Sarv'swati... I believe you do not have a current cover story." The old man added. "And I could use some ...extra help." The man added, before producing several files alongside photographs and a small, carved jewel of foraneous origin. "Here it is a dossier with your new identity...alongside one of your folk's facechanging foci."

"Well, my dear Snadhya, this is actually a very remarkable trait of humans. Improvisation." Solomon added, his tone and inflections not changing at all.

"That much is true." Snadhya smirked, her mood finally lifting up. "Still, we are behind schedule."

"Pulling strings is no small task." He added. "The walls have ears. We have to be extra meticulous in every aspect." The man finished, as he raised out of his chair with difficulty. Sarv'swati, as if on cue, headed towards the toilet of the room. While the man laborously put his folder aside, grabbing his coat and cane, gagging and muffled sounds could be heard from the adjacent room. Sweaty, a now ginger-haired Sarv'swati emerged, green eyes peeking into the old man.

"Are you ready, general?" The man added, before heading for the door, his cane rythmically tapping, only to stop a final time, his eyes resting in Snadhya's face one last time.

"Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships... And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?" He mused as he waved a faint smile. "Farewell, Snadhya'runes.I shall keep in touch."

"Jude...You never change. Farewell" The drow woman smirked before eyeing the blank space of the room. At least it was better than Kalinin and Kalki, the eldest drow thought.

Last edited by Pariel on Wed Jun 07, 2017 5:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.